NWSL Week 1 Recap- The Magic of Sean Nahas
- Kielbj
- Mar 19, 2024
- 11 min read
This weekly recap will cover 3-4 NWSL matches. Sadly, I cannot watch every single NWSL match, properly analyze them all, and still proceed with my non-soccer life. In lieu of watching every game every week, I will do my best to catch every team at least every other week. Thank you (seriously, THANK YOU) to all my NWSL analytics twitter follows for the data vis! Let's get into Week 1!
Game 1: North Carolina Courage 5-1 Houston Dash
Sean Nahas is a mad scientist. A crazy person. An absolute lunatic. Tasked with replacing league MVP candidate Kerolin, Nahas' Courage roster offered up little in the way of solutions, with zero true traditional strikers available for selection. In the Courage section of my preview column, I guessed that Nahas would try new signing Ashley Sanchez as a false nine, creating an overload when Sanchez inevitably dropped deep to receive the ball.
"Haha!" Nahas said. "I laugh in the face of your ignorance!" Instead, Nahas started career six/eight Brianna Pinto in the nine role.....and boy, at least for one week, we'll call the decision a rousing success. The Courage gave the rudest of welcomes to new Dash coach Fran Alonso; passing among, through, and around the Dash midfield, suffocating the visitors in the same fashion we saw frequently from the 2023 edition.
With new signing Felicitas Rauch directly replacing the departed Emily Fox at LB, Ryan Williams was allowed to remain at the RB spot she held down throughout 2023. Nahas had Rauch to playing nearly identically to how Fox had the year prior, asking the left back to frequently invert into the midfield. With Williams doing the same on the right and Pinto dropping into a more familiar midfield role, the Courage often were functionally playing with SIX central midfielders, overwhelming poor Belle Briede, Sophie Schmidt, and Andressa every time the ball entered the middle third of the field. As shown in the pass-map graphic above, Sanchez played the highest of the three central midfielders, supporting Pinto by playing just off the forward in attack. Out of possession (see below), the Courage barricaded the midfield, dropping the two wingers inside and pressing with the ball-side winger and the ball-side central midfielder. O'Sullivan patrolled the middle as a free safety, restricting distribution into feet of the two Houston strikers while Rauch and Williams marked wingers Maria Sanchez and rookie Avery Patterson.
In the Dash season preview, I questioned whether Alonso would play a 3-4-3 or move back to a four-back formation. This was a distinct 3-1-4-2, which exchanged one of the wide players in a 3-4-3 for another player in midfield. The Dash were not necessarily overwhelmed possession-wise, but Alonso will like to see more control against better matchups.......and for his club to create more opportunities. The xG plot speaks for itself, really.
This was Alonso's "welcome to the NWSL" moment. While not all NWSL teams play as Nahas's Courage do, Alonso will need to learn quickly- It wasn't entirely clear what his strategy was in this one. By playing a front two instead of a front three, he risked the two strikers becoming progressively more isolated as the match went on against NCC's relentless possession.....and boy, were they ever: The graphic below shows Kizer's final third touches. Not great!
New signing Elin Rubensson, unavailable after signing for the Dash the week prior, should be ready to go next week and will likely slot into the second eight role that was occupied by Belle Briede on Saturday. Briede, a natural attacker, looked overwhelmed by the Courage and the role she was playing, frequently getting dispossessed after failing to check her shoulder for pressure.. If Alonso insists on continuing with his 3-1-4-2, he will need to get a lot more out of his midfield, and Rubensson will be a tremendous help in that regard.
Quick Hits:
Ashley Sanchez will thrive as expected in this Courage system, and I love it for her (and me, the world's foremost Ashley Sanchez fan). Sanchez had the highest xT on the field in her Courage debut.
All Dash opportunities, including their lone goal, came unsurprisingly from the left foot of Maria Sanchez.
Young Japanese attacking midfielder Manaka Matsukubo replaced Pinto in the second half, indicating that Nahas will persist with the "zero striker" strategy.
Bianca St. Georges scored a brace off the bench and is clearly going to be a key contributor for the Courage on the wing. I won't be surprised if she gets one of the starting wing positions as the season progresses. Nahas appears to have Tyler-Lussi'd her!
PSA FOR NWSL COMMENTATORS: PRAISING WOMEN'S SOCCER MATCHES AS "FAMILY FRIENDLY" IS PATRONIZING AND DAMAGING, NOT COMPLIMENTARY. I BEG. PLEASE STOP!
Game 2: Angel City FC vs. Bay FC
The grand finale of the NWSL's opening weekend involved the league's newest "rivalry," the NorCal-SoCal matchup between the expansion side and the historic powerho---wait, no, neither team has any history whatsoever. I guess the LA-Bay rivalry comes a little more naturally to natives of each city than the rather forced SD-ACFC rivalry, but cmon people....let's give it a little time.
On the BMO field grass, it was Bay FC who came away with three road points courtesy of the sure to be first of many Asisat Oshoala goals, but it was those in the pink and black who were the more impressive of the two sides. Montoya's Bay FC side showed discipline, but looked much more like a counter-attacking side than the ball-control oriented team Montoya had promised. Still missing marquee signing Rachael Kundananji (Bay FC have STILL not released an official update on the player the club paid a world-record transfer fee for almost a month after her injury), Bay FC spent most of the game in a low-block 4-3-3, happy to cede possession to an Angel City side who looked much like they did to end last season.
I remarked in my Bay FC preview that their roster looked like they may be better suited to playing as a counter-attacking side on the road, and the team looked as much for large portions of their first 90 NWSL minutes. The blurry outlines, however, of Montoya's philosophy were there. Bay FC lined up as expected: A 4-3-3 with Oshoala leading the line, former Angel Scarlett Camberos on the wing, and Tess Boade playing on the right wing where she frequently inverted to combine with the midfielders. Montoya is a coach who really coaches from the sidelines. His direction to his players was frequently audible through the broadcast microphones, verbally dictating the pressing triggers to his midfield. Bay FC was surprisingly organized for a team playing in their first game: When the ball went to one of the Angel City CBs, Bay FC would step high and force long balls, preventing Sarah Gorden from striding into the midfield as frequently as she usually does. Offensively, one of the dual 8s --Joelle Anderson or Deyna Castellanos-- would drop into the hole next to six Alex Loera, helping to break Angel's City's 4-2-4 press (take note, Mike Norris!). Oshoala remained isolated up top....but she's a finisher, and she took one of her few chances well.
Despite the loss, it was Angel City who impressed the more of the two sides. Missing new signing Rocky Rodriguez, 17-year old Kennedy Fuller started over Madison Hammond in the 8 spot next to six Amandine Henry. Somewhat surprisingly, Meggie Dougherty-Howard got the start in the 10 and played a little higher up the field in the spaces formerly occupied by Savannah McKaskill. Fuller was arguably THE standout player the first half; playing incisive, aggressive balls forward while still finishing the match with the highest pass-accuracy on the team, and haranguing Loera every chance she got. More importantly, Tweed's decision to trust the teenager in a hotly-contested season-opener was notable. Angel City failed to replace McKaskill in free agency, prompting questions regarding who would replace the immense amount of responsibility McKaskill took on in 2023. While Angel City would be wise to be gentle with Fuller's minutes --as Tweed indicated they would be in the post game-- they may struggle to keep the kid off the field if she continues her strong play.
Tactically, Tweed didn't change much up from the successful end to 2023, keeping the double pivot 4-2-3-1 that she deployed to such great effect after taking over from Freya Coombe in June. Tweed's patented press --anchored by newcomers Fuller and Dougherty-Howard-- caused Bay FC's single pivot Alex Loera real issues. The always-high energy MA Vignola zoomed forward on the overlap, forcing back the usually-attacking Bay FC RB Caprice Dydasco, and limiting Bay FC's midfield buildout.
The pass map for Angel City is intriguing. The front three of Claire Emslie, Sydney Leroux, and Alyssa Thompson frequently rotated. With no true number ten on the field with Fuller playing deeper than she has for the U-17 USWNT, Leroux dropped deeper and deeper. I'll use the Thompson and Emslie data vis as a way to note a key limitation of pass maps- They reflect the average position from which the player passed the ball. Because Thompson and Emslie switched wings frequently, their average position is shown in the middle- While both inverted occasionally, their location on the pass map is a function of their average position, not their most frequent position.
ACFC's lack of goals was my concern going into this season. It was a bit of a surprise not to see Messiah Bright start, and even more surprising that she was not brought off the bench until the 83rd minute with ACFC needing a goal. With Leroux dropping so deep, Angel City's attack lacked a target up top, and made it more straightforward for Bay FC's defense to keep ball in front of them and to clean up aimless crosses. ACFC failed to make many passes into the striker, in part because that striker was frequently not in position to receive them. I would expect to see Bright start once she gets a little more integrated because she offers both the pace in behind and hold up capability that Sydney Leroux, at this point in her career, simply does not. I mean......look at Leroux's final third touches 60 minutes in:
Quick Hits:
With starter Melissa Lowder injured, Canadian Lysianne Proulx got the start in Goal for Bay FC and was fantastic, making a number of excellent saves. With her neck tat and tucked in keeper jersey, her vibe is unmatched among NWSL keepers.
Henry was quietly dominant. She had the highest value added on either team, and though not as mobile as she once was, she remains one of the best sixes in the world on the back of her mental acuity and on-ball ability.
I worry that Bay FC's dual eight 4-3-3 isn't the best use of Deyna Castellanos' talent. Castellanos is best as a ten, is limited defensively, and doesn't offer much in terms of creativity from deep-lying roles as she prefers to receive the ball in pockets in the final third. When Bay FC has the ball, it might not matter.....but Castellanos was ineffective Sunday night and was played off the field at times by Henry.
Bay FC parked the bus BIG TIME in the second half, with left backs Kiki Pickett and Alyssa Malonson coming on in the 82nd minute. Malonson shifted inside and Pickett played as a left back, essentially turning Bay FC's defensive until into a back five.
Rocky Rodriguez is going to slot into this ACFC midfield three smoothly. Though she and Henry are not the....paciest of midfield duos, they are an experienced pair that should learn to play off of each other very quickly.
Game 3: CHALLENGE CUP Gotham FC vs. San Diego Wave
I know, I know. This wasn't technically an NWSL matchup. It was, however, a matchup of my projected top two shield finishers, and the game was....fun! In a clash of sufferball vs. the beautiful game, Wave manager Casey Stoney outdid her Gotham counterpart Juan Carlos Amoros, the Wave winning the in-need-of-a-rename Challenge Cup on a late Alex Morgan header.
I wasn't able to track down much data from this match, but the game was one where the tactics were fairly easily observable. The match opened as you would expect: A lot of Gotham possession with the Wave looking to hit on the counter through Gold Cup Golden Ball winner Jaedyn Shaw and new acquisition Savannah McKaskill. Stoney changed up her formation in this one, swapping the old faithful double pivot 4-2-3-1 for a narrow diamond 4-1-2-1-2 in an attempt to constrict Gotham's attack and match their numbers in midfield.
Gotham started in their usual 4-3-3 with Esther on the left in place of the returning-from-Gold-Cup duty Lynn Williams, with Katie Stengel starting centrally and Midge Purce wide right. Amoros started Yazmeen Ryan and Delanie Sheehan as eights, and the two of them --Sheehan in particular-- were influential in the first ten minutes, forcing a number of Wave turnovers trying playing out from the back. Sheehan was unquestionably Gotham's best player on the night, raising the question of who Amoros' preferred starting eights will be with his entire squad available next week. Crystal Dunn came on for her debut in a similar role as she played in Portland the previous year, and should Rose Lavelle ever be healthy, one would presume the two of them would form an ultra-attacking set of eights ahead of Nealy Martin in the six.
As the match progressed, San Diego grew into the game. While Shaw appeared to be suffering an understandable Gold Cup hangover, McKaskill was everywhere for the Wave, pulling out wide to provide options for SD's defenders and moving centrally to create for her two strikers. San Diego didn't really actually create much in the way of real opportunities (only 0.5 xG up until Morgan's wide open headed winner in the 87th minute), but actually ended up both out-possessing Gotham on the night 53% to 47%, and finishing with a higher xG . They did it in classic Wave fashion: Stoney's box seem to confuse Gotham, who resorted to playing from the wide areas instead of their usual short passing patterns in the midfield. Wave six Emily Van Egmond was her usual sturdy self, sitting in front of the back four almost playing as a stopper, and stepping into the midfield on the occasions Gotham attempted to progress the ball centrally.
The Wave's player of the match was, unsurprisingly, CB Naomi Girma. Coming off victory in the Gold Cup championship match in which she clamped Brazil's many dangerous attackers, Girma did the same to Gotham and their fleet of newly-signed talent. Girma has a real argument for being the best CB in the world at the moment- Effortlessly calm on the ball, she swept up wave after wave (heh) of Gotham attacks and was San Diego's best forward passer as well, firing a number of impressive diagonals into the feet of Shaw. Girma's presence is what allows the Wave to play the boringly effective style they do. A less calm CB would have panicked in the face of Gotham's Esther-led press, but Girma played out of it time after time, finding both those long verticals to her forward two and balls into feet of her midfield four.
Quick Hits:
Stoney is an absolutely astounding 9-0-0 against Amoros all time, including 4-0-0 in NWSL play.
Sheehan's play --she was THE underrated cog in Gotham championship-winning side in 2023-- will demand minutes. Don't be surprised if Amoros takes it easy with Lavelle due to her injury history, using Sheehan and Dunn as rotation options in the eight role.
McKaskill was impressive in her first SD match, and has really carved out a niche for herself in the NWSL since moving to Southern California after a bumpy first four years in the league
Young Swedish RB Hanna Lundkvist started at LB and played well, answering the question of "who would play LB for SD" after Madison Pogarch's departure for Utah.
Stengel had a poor game, and her lack of pace made Esther's frequent forays into her own midfield less effective.
Maitane Lopez picked up an injury in the second half, putting her status for this week's match in Portland in doubt. Gotham has no shortage of backups, with rookie Maycee Bell and former Reign stalwart Sam Hiatt both starting the game on the bench before coming on late in the game.
Game 4: Kansas City Current vs. Portland Thorns
NO. I refuse to discuss this game any further. Too much pain, srry folks.
Player of the Week: Ashley Sanchez, North Carolina Courage
Goal of the week:
I mean, this, from Janine Beckie in her return from an ACL tear is the clear winner.
......but the runner up goes to this delectable Courage counterattack for their third of the night (skip to 6:19 in the video below). Check out the initial scoop pass by CB Kaleigh Kurtz!
Until next week!
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